This case study focuses on the public admistration and issues covered in this case study were centered on the snow removal activity within the city and the fact that all residents in the city deserved equal treatment from the public offices no one place was more important than the other. As observed regularly snow storms have paralyzed the everyday activities in many states.
Snow removal is an activity that is mandated on the local authority administration, whereby as the bylaws dictate, the City council has an obligation to provide the services efficiently without bias to all residents of the city. However in carrying out its obligations, the Manhattan public authority, which was in charge of the exercise failed to do so in a number of ways (Cheshire 1997).
First as indicated above, the Authority failed to provide services equally to all residents according to Le May (2006), a public Authority ought to carry out its mandate without bias to the public, however the administration failed to do this whereby, in reference to the “electronic hallway case study on snow removal”, the theory of public administrations is to give and provide equal services to all citizens and residents affected by the snow storm, but the practice is that some parts of the city are favored and given preferential service while the rest of the city is left to suffer and the citizens are left and forced to fend for themselves.
Thus as the case study indicates, Manhattan was highly favored during the snow removal exercise at the expense of the whole city. As a result of this biasness, the residents of the other cities, Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Staten Island accused Mayor John Lindsay for misusing the city’s snow removal reserves and showing preferential treatment towards Manhattan at the cost of the rest of the city.
Personnel Administration and Unionism in Public Administration
Apart from that where the city local administration displayed open bias, there are other issues that touch on Personnel Administration the Public body undertook various activities that were in contradiction to personnel administration these include:
less staff which resulted to in adequate labor to tackle the snow removal process however the city administration resulted to hiring more personnel after an outcry fry various stake holders so as to have enough personnel to fight the snow.
Another issue was that the snow removal equipment was also always breaking down but it was proposed that more mechanical staff to be hired to keep the equipment in use in perfect condition for such situations.
In addition, the snow removal equipment was not enough for the whole city so more equipment was suggested to be bought, and hiring of private owned snow removing equipment when an urgent situation concerning snow arose.
This was however solved as the Mayor and the relevant authority authorized for the purchase of more equipments hence showing according to Le May (2006) that public administration bodies should be autonomous in order to deliver its services and mandate without external political, economical and social pressures, nevertheless, they should a Bureaucratic process that ensures that services are delivered without bias or exploited by corrupt individuals in the administration.
The actors who were concerned in this activity were the public administrators who were supposed to carry out the snow removal activity in the whole of the city. The city Mayor was to make sure that all the city residents got equal attention and service by the service providers. Some city residents were affected by the snow storm and could not get to their respective places of work or school.
The personal forces in this case study include the decisions the mayor made that showed prejudice to the rest of the city as only Manhattan was being serviced.
The fact that most of the snow removal equipment was faulty and there was less personnel working shows that this was a personal force on the mayors side and also the employees themselves in that the equipment was not serviced regularly so that it could perform the work it was supposed to without problems on the employees side some of them could not make to work as the snow hindered their way.
From the above there are various public administration concepts that the Administration failed to address when carrying out its mandate in the city. First, the administration failed to balance its values according to importance and preference as needed by any public body, instead in undertook activities like removing snow in some cities while totally neglecting the other areas which were in dire need of the same services (Le May 1996).
Also when it comes to balancing of values in the administration of the city, from the case study, one can note that, the city is divided into three sections that are primary, secondary and tertiary that is attended to in terms of priority. Primary and secondary sections are intended to allow police station, fire station and hospital vehicles to proceed to at least one or two blocks of an emergency in a tertiary street.
The theoretical perspectives that help us to understand what happened in the case are the carrying out a research on the city’s ability in such a snow crisis was carried out to categorize and eradicate the main weaknesses in snow removal program.
The use of the US Weather Bureau statistics showing the patterns and amount of average snow fall, statistics on snow build up rates, the precedence plan invented to clear out major streets first.
According to exhibit 5 the primary streets are the ones that are regarded as major traffic arteries, or highways, parkways, expressways, drives or bridges: feeder roads to bridges, tunnels, ferries, airports, bus routes, all street with areas which have food, treatment, amusement, shopping, streets with important facilities like police and fire stations, fuel stations and transport terminals.
Secondary streets are regarded to have convincingly traffic example: all alternative routes to primary streets, major shopping streets, access streets to industrial or commercial areas. Tertiary streets on the other hand are all the other streets not covered by the primary and secondary streets.
According to the United States National Research Council (1999), the case discloses that the Department of Sanitation assesses its snow removal path yearly, making notes of changes in routes of buses, directions of streets and major changes in the areas so as to facilitate effective snow removal mechanisms when need arises.
The assessment facilitates for effective snow removal and disposal activities and problems that may arise for each district since each district has its own planned program for spreading salt, plowing and hauling snow. Snow removal is much easier on weekends as compared to weekdays. During weekends traffic is light and this allows snow vehicles to easily penetrate the streets to clear the snow.
Parked cars however bring about a hindrance when it comes to the removal of snow from the streets as these vehicles are heavy and they can hit a parked car as they are turning so employees who operate the snow removal machinery are instructed not to penetrate in streets where parked cars could bring about a problem.
The snowplowing activity is however the last resort when it comes to snow removing in the city. According to the case, a total of 1,760 collection and flusher trucks with plow blades attached on them can be used to clear snow from path of moving traffic, bus stops, at intersections and near fire hydrants.
Snowplowing is carried out according to precedence levels of streets apart from an emergency call in the case of police, ambulance or fire as these emergencies take priority over everything else.
Snow plows work efficiently in snow that is about eight inches deep, if the snow is mainly thick, then the plow may not be able to move. Traffic affects the speed of the plow, at rush hour; the plow is generally slower when compared to the times of the day when there is no rush.
In reference to the case, snow removal equipment is examined in September to pinpoint the areas that need repairs, these repairs are then carried out in later in the month and the equipment is tested in November. During these tests, the equipment is scrutinized at frequent intervals of the snow removal activity to determine whether the equipment is alright and can perform well during the snow removing activity.
Vehicle failures are however associated with vehicular age and storm duration as compared to equipment maintenance. A spreader lasts between ten to fifteen years and their damages are usually minor that do not require a lot of time to fix.
According to the case, the Department of Sanitation has over 9,000 employees who can run the 2,800 department’s snow removal apparatus. This department also offers services for whole inhabited city all year round.
The Sanitation Department makes sure that it is ready for snow fighting operations by: employing mechanics on September 15th in all garages on a snow contract basis to service and ensure that the snow removing machines are in good shape and that they will not breakdown quickly, the swapping of employees and equipment from day to day and night waste collection on the 15th of November, an analysis by sanitation district supervisors of each district by 15th November, the analysis is to ensure that there are enough workers working on each shift, to ask other city departments to supply additional workers top carry out activities including snow removing mainly, hauling snow, training to employees from other city departments about the duties of their assignments.
The employees during the winter period have three shifts in which they can work, from 8am to 4pm 1500 employees working, 4pm to midnight 900 employees, 12 midnight to 8am nearly 300 employees on duty. On Sunday there are about 300 employees on duty from midnight to 4pm on Sunday between 12am and 8am there are no employees on duty at 8am on Monday all employees return to their assigned duties.
During a storm or in anticipation of a storm the Department of sanitation chooses from the following three options; to depend on the employees that are on duty that particular time, to prolong the shift on duty at that certain time or to call in additional employees. Such decisions rely solely on the weather forecast for the day.
Communication for the snow removing exercise is advanced and there is a hotline that is directly connected to the U.S. Weather Bureau’s New York forecaster that is used for relaying information between the two organizations at frequently, any signs storms are relayed across as soon as they are spotted.
On top of this the Sanitation Department has eighteen weather surveillance stations on the city’s outskirts from which the beginning of precipitation, depth of snow, temperature rates, and speed of buildup of snow are relayed every half an hour to the Headquarters.
In reference to the case the Chief of Operations is in charge of the decisions and operations carried out to combat the situation. When a storm occurs the department under the orders of the Chief of Operations, informs the districts supervisors and their respective offices and officers through a teletype alert system.
A forecast of two or three inches receives the same amount of primary action as a serious blizzard until weather forecasts predict changes in the weather conditions, furthermore the department is on duty twenty four hours a day. As the snow storm worsens chosen commands from previous storms are used to ease the current situation.
The nature of the policy system and the policy making process in snow removal exercise is dependent on previous snow storms and the depth of the snow. The depth of the snow determines which procedure is to be used when removing the snow from the city.
Preparation of the snow removal activities depends on the weather forecast predictions and the mechanical state of the vehicles and equipment’s to be used in the procedure not forgetting the man power needed to operate and service the machinery needed.
According to the case, the administrative ethics were not carried out as expected as majority of the city dwellers raised complaints about the mayor giving orders that favored Manhattan at the expense of the whole city. All city dwellers should be given equal treatment as the snow affects all and not just one part of the city.
The city dwellers have accepted the method of dividing the city into districts and streets so that each area may get the same service as the other despite the economic differences that may be imminent. This division should ease the clearing of snow and make the process go smoothly without mishaps such as preferential treatment.
The administrative ethics in this case is questioned. Public offices are meant to serve and provide service to the public without any strings attached or discrimination towards one part of the people the office is meant to be giving service to, unlike in this case where services are offered unequally.
Therefore, case study highlights various public administration concepts are parting efficient running of public administration. As indicated the department of sanitation failed in a number of concepts which were supposed to be used especially in removal of snow.
The mayor for instance failed to balance the needs of the city by undertaking to remove snow from one city while ignoring the others due to political and economic values as he was facing a re-election. In addition, him being a public official, he acted unethically due to his selfish decisions hence making the whole snow removal process a political issue.
Nevertheless, the public administration bodies should be allowed to run independently as seen in this case study whereby the department has categorized how the process should be carried out and even zoned the areas.
Due to this automy the department can effectively address issues as they arise without following the rigorous and bureaucratic channels that are stipulated. For instance in cases of emergencies, the department can prefer to remove snow from a place that was classified as a low priority area hence enabling swift delivery of services (LeMay, 2006).
In addition the department has adopted effective public administration mechanisms whereby they undertake to hire personnel and snow removal machines during the winter period. By so doing, the department will be increasing the manpower required to tackle this issues on a need to need basis while at the same time cutting down on the expenses that would have been incurred during the non- snow periods.
This also in-cooperates the concept of decision making process of the department. As indicated by the case study, during the snow periods the department undertakes decision on how to tackle the snow removal process using a certain process which is all subject to the budget available.
Thus to be able to make wise decisions, the department relies on various other departments and professionals to come up with a final decision that takes care of all issues for example relying on the metrological department to come up with a precise chart on the weather patterns. Another important concept is the communication system that is in place in the department.
It is noted that “the Department of Sanitation has an elaborate communications network for updating forecasts, mobilizing resources, and reporting on snow conditions.
The Department maintains close liaison with the U.S. Weather Bureau’s New York forecaster on a telephone hot line established between the two agencies during the snow season. This line is used for obtaining weather information at regular intervals, and storm warnings are transmitted on it as soon as they are foreseen and/or develop.”
Also the department takes into consideration clientele pressure and government policy that are in place. For instance, during the bias removal of snow in Manhattan while sideling other cities resulted in a public outcry that resulted in the Mayor acting fairly and delivering services to all.
Also there was pressure from other stakeholders who were requesting the department to hire new members of staff and work all around during winter and also for the purchase of new equipments to tackle the snow removal and sanitation in the area
References
Chesire, L. (1997) How Snow Shovel, will Travel. All About Snow. Web.
LeMay, C. (1996). The Electronic Hallway: Snow Removal. Hallway.org. Web.
LeMay, M.C. (2006) Public Administration: Clashing Values in the Administration for Public Policy. New York: Cengage Learning.
United States National Research Council (1999). Winter Maintenance Technology and Practices-Learning from Abroad. United States National Research Council. Web.